Nicole first found Newport Peach as a client nearly a decade ago, in an Orange County full of expensive studios and the newest fitness trends. When the studio’s founder was stretched between teaching, running the business, and raising a family, Nicole stepped in, purchasing the Costa Mesa studio a few years ago not to chase a trend, but to keep a rare kind of place alive.
“The most important workout you can do is the one you enjoy.”Nicole Schmitz / Newport Peach
Color, warmth, and a room that feels more like Barbie’s dream house than a gym. There is no front desk to check in at and no crowd to disappear into. Instructors, who work without microphones, greet each person, personally check them in, and ask quietly about injuries, pregnancy, or anything that might change the workout that day. Nicole describes an average class of around ten people, small enough that no one is lost.
What clients notice next is the tone. Newport Peach does not talk about shrinking, calorie counts, or transformation. Women of every size, age, and stage, from college students to clients in their seventies, are met where they are and encouraged to take up space. Classes close with Shavasana, Palo Santo, and essential oils, so people leave feeling settled rather than depleted.
The room itself is designed to help people exhale. Bright color, live plants, mirrors, neon signs, classic teal steps, and playful 90s-inspired details give the studio personality without sacrificing comfort. Every instructor first came to Newport Peach as a client, so the teaching style stays approachable and familiar. Someone can arrive tired, self-conscious, or unsure and still feel noticed, included, and free to move at their own pace.
Nicole Schmitz brings a client’s-eye view to Newport Peach, shaped by years in fitness sales and marketing, holistic health coaching, and her own path from studio regular to owner. That perspective keeps the studio grounded, personal, and relationship-driven.
The Holistic Fitness Philosophy of Newport Peach
The holistic fitness philosophy of Newport Peach begins with one simple idea: fitness can still be fun. In Nicole’s words, the studio is meant to be a safe, friendly, happy space where women can move their bodies to good music, de-stress, and walk away feeling great, no matter what kind of day they have had.
Newport Peach is a 90s-inspired, body-positive aerobic studio in Costa Mesa, California, owned by Nicole Schmitz.
It is built around small, personal classes, a welcoming community, and the signature Peach Step Method, and it welcomes women of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels with no focus on weight loss, only on how they feel.
The full class schedule and pricing live on the studio’s website and inside the Newport Peach app, which is updated daily and includes a text line for questions.
Nicole’s own path shaped that view. Her fitness journey stretches back to Jane Fonda and Mari Winsor Pilates tapes as a teenager and continued through years working at big-box gyms and boutique studios in Chicago and Los Angeles, with a background in sales, marketing, and a certification in holistic health coaching.
She discovered Newport Peach as a client, and when the founder needed to step back, Nicole took over ownership and operations while keeping the founder on as a lead teacher.
Why Newport Peach Feels Different From a Traditional Gym
Nicole calls Newport Peach the anti-gym, and the idea carries through the whole experience: a colorful 90s-inspired room, classes small enough to stay personal, coaching that never mentions shrinking, and a community that keeps women coming back.
Success is measured by how women feel, not by calories, weight loss, or the newest trend, so the tone stays body-positive from warm-up to Shavasana.
Women of every age, size, and stage, from college students to clients in their seventies, at any fitness level and in any workout clothes.
Classes average about ten people, every instructor started as a client, and Peach Step is a signature class Nicole says no one else teaches.
A Studio She Refused to Let Close
Nicole’s ownership came out of loyalty before it came out of business. She had felt the studio’s difference the first time she walked in as a client, in an area where, as she puts it, there is an expensive Pilates studio on every corner. When the founder was struggling to teach, manage, and raise a family all at once, Nicole proposed taking over the studio’s management and operations completely, so the place she loved would not disappear.
That is why she describes her role today as more than making a living. She works with clients, handles the studio’s operations and finances, and offers holistic nutrition coaching, while the original founder, Nicole Kniss, stays on to teach the signature Peach Step Method she created. For Nicole, keeping Newport Peach going is the point: a small, women-run neighborhood studio with no franchise, no investor, and no corporate backing, kept alive because clients believe in it.
The Anti-Gym Philosophy
Nicole is direct about what Newport Peach is not. It is not the newest, the most expensive, or the most extreme. She calls it the anti-gym: bright colors, plants, mirrors, and neon signs; classic teal step platforms; good music; and a wall mural that doubles as the studio’s brand. The intent is that a woman can arrive in whatever mood or outfit she has that day and still feel like she is visiting friends.
Underneath the colorful, 90s-inspired aesthetic is a real point of view. As a holistic nutrition coach, Nicole believes health is more than exercise; it includes stress, sleep, food, nature, relationships, and connection. She is wary of an industry that constantly chases fancier equipment and complicated modalities, and she keeps Newport Peach deliberately simple: a full-body workout that is challenging without spiking cortisol, and enjoyable enough that women actually want to come back.
Seen, Welcomed, and Connected
Nicole’s goal for every visit is easy to state and harder to deliver: people should leave feeling seen, welcomed, and connected. She describes a room where clients become friends, trade high-fives, and cheer one another on, where instructors are approachable and relatable, and where women are accepted for exactly who they are rather than judged against a goal on a scale.
That welcoming feeling begins before class. New clients receive guidance on where to park, what to bring, and what to expect, then an instructor helps them settle into the room. Modifications are available throughout class for someone returning after time away, managing an injury, or trying something unfamiliar. Because the studio is intentionally small, those details feel personal rather than procedural, making a first visit feel more like joining a community than entering a fitness club.
Small Classes, Personal Attention
The scale of Newport Peach is part of its design. With roughly five to seven classes a day and an average of about ten people in each, the studio can stay personal in a way larger gyms cannot. Instructors teach without microphones, personally check in each client, and often know the room well enough to ask about an injury, a pregnancy, or a hard week. As Nicole notes, it can feel closer to a small personal-training group than a crowded class.
That closeness is also how the studio keeps people consistent. Because it is a small shop, Nicole and her team can reach out personally by phone or text when they have not seen someone in a while, without relying on large automated systems. She sees clients as people, not numbers, and believes what most of them need from a good class is to feel seen, heard, respected, and connected to the instructor in front of them.
Newport Peach matters because it treats fitness as an experience rather than a measurement: a body-positive studio with a distinctive 90s-inspired character, where women feel seen, connected, and better than when they walked in.
What Newport Peach Offers
Based on the interview, Newport Peach is built for women who want a varied, welcoming, body-positive studio experience with small classes and real community.
Who Newport Peach May Be a Good Fit For
Nicole says the studio is open to everyone, though it tends to attract women at different phases of life who want to move, de-stress, and feel good in a small, friendly room.
Women coming back after an injury, pregnancy, menopause, or a long break may appreciate personal check-ins, modifications in every class, and a pace that never demands extremes. Medical clearance is required for health conditions or pregnancy.
The mom-and-baby baby-wearing class lets women train with their baby in a carrier, and Nicole says the studio partners with other moms’ groups in the area.
Readers who would rather move to good music in a small, friendly room than push through a punishing session may find the studio closely matches what they want.
“I just wanted to send a quick note to express my gratitude for Newport Peach and all the sweet humans who make it what it is. No matter what is going on in my life, I have a safe place to go, be myself, be loved on, and build my confidence while building my booty. I could literally name every single instructor and a time they pulled me out of a funk, saved the day with their smile, or just made me feel seen and taken care of. It took about two seconds for me to feel settled, connected to my body, and like I could breathe again. I genuinely hoped that I make my students feel as strong, powerful, and safe as the Peach Teachers make me feel. It’s really magic.”
The Client Who Came in Drained and Left Settled
The story Nicole returns to is not a before-and-after photo or a number on a scale. It is a note a longtime client sent her, unprompted, about what a single class did for her on a hard day.
According to Nicole, the client described heading to class after a workday that had left her emotionally drained, convinced there was no way a workout could make her feel better. Once again, she wrote, she was proven wrong: within moments of walking into the room she felt settled, connected to her body, and able to take a deep breath again, and she credited the instructor teaching that day.
The note went further than the workout itself. The client said she could name every Peach instructor and a time one of them had pulled her out of a funk, and that the experience made her think about her own work, hoping she makes the people she works with feel as strong and powerful as the Peach Teachers make her feel.
Nicole said she saved the note because it was never requested as a testimonial or a review; the client simply emailed it. For her, it captures exactly what the studio is aiming for: an excellent, safe workout, and a place women know they can return to and be themselves.
Where the Peach Community Takes Shape
Newport Peach is easiest to understand through the people in the room. Every instructor began as a client, Nicole stays close to the studio’s day-to-day life, and the small scale lets teachers learn names, stories, and what each person needs that day.
Why This Matters Locally
Costa Mesa and the surrounding Orange County area are full of fitness options, from boutique Pilates studios to the newest trend-driven concepts. Nicole describes it as a place where a new studio can feel intimidating, especially for women coming back from an injury, a pregnancy, menopause, or simply a long time away from exercise. Newport Peach is built to be the opposite of intimidating, a place where the outfit, the schedule, and the starting point do not matter.
For women looking for a body-positive studio, step aerobics, or a small, welcoming community rather than a large gym, Newport Peach offers a clear local point of difference. Most new clients find it through referrals, word of mouth, Google, Yelp, and ClassPass, but Nicole believes what keeps them is simpler: how they feel when they are there, and how they feel when they leave.
Community That Extends Past Class
Newport Peach relationships do not always end when class does. Outdoor gatherings reflect Nicole’s view that movement, stress relief, and connection belong to everyday life, not only to a scheduled workout.
Questions Readers Ask
Who Is Nicole Schmitz?
Nicole Schmitz is the owner of Newport Peach in Costa Mesa, California. With an extensive background in sales and marketing within the health, wellness, and fitness industries, she brings both business strategy and a strong understanding of the client experience to the studio. She first joined Newport Peach as a client and later purchased it to keep its unique community going. Today, she oversees operations, works closely with clients, and offers holistic nutrition coaching.
What Does This Newport Peach Costa Mesa Review Highlight?
The Spotlight examines Nicole’s path from client to owner, the studio’s body-positive philosophy, the signature Peach Step Method, small classes and personal check-ins, the class lineup, the local Orange County setting, and the introductory offers she recommends for new clients.
What Is Newport Peach Known For?
Newport Peach is a 90s-inspired, body-positive aerobic studio known for its signature Peach Step class (created by the original founder, Nicole Kniss), which blends classic step aerobics, Pilates-inspired strength, and barre. It is known for small, personal classes and a welcoming, community-centered environment for women of all ages and fitness levels.
Is Newport Peach Beginner Friendly?
Yes. Nicole Schmitz describes Newport Peach as welcoming to all fitness levels, ages, and body types. Every class includes modifications, instructors check in personally on injuries and goals, and new clients receive emails on what to expect, where to park, and what to bring before their first visit. Medical clearance is required for any health conditions or pregnancy.
What Makes Newport Peach Different?
Newport Peach stands out through its body-positive, community-first approach. There is no focus on calorie counting or weight loss, classes stay small and personal, every instructor began as a client, and the studio is built around how women feel when they walk in and when they leave.
What Is the Best First Step for a New Client?
Nicole recommends starting with the studio’s website or the Newport Peach app, where the schedule and pricing are updated daily. At the time of the interview, new clients could choose a two-week unlimited intro membership or a buy-two-get-two-free class package, and she encourages first-timers to try as many classes and instructors as they can.
Key Takeaways
Newport Peach is a 90s-inspired, body-positive aerobic studio in Costa Mesa, California, owned by Nicole Schmitz.
Its signature Peach Step class blends step aerobics, Pilates-inspired strength, and barre, alongside Peach Barre, Peach Strength, Peach & Abs, and a mom-and-baby class.
Small classes, personal check-ins, and instructors who all began as clients give the studio a close, welcoming community.
The philosophy centers on how women feel rather than weight loss, celebrating body positivity, connection, and confidence.
Conclusion
Newport Peach is not only a story about fitness. It is a story about what happens when community, body positivity, and the client experience are treated as the real product. Nicole Schmitz’s view of the studio is shaped by her own journey from client to owner, and that gives the space a personal quality that is hard to manufacture.
The message Nicole wants people to remember is simple: fitness can meet you where you are, feel good, and still be part of a healthy life. For women who want more than a workout alone, that may be the real value of Newport Peach, a place to build community and confidence at the same time.
Nicole Schmitz
Nicole’s background spans fitness sales and management, community and client-retention roles at boutique studios, and roughly fifteen years of holistic nutrition coaching, experience she now brings to running a studio she first knew as a client.
Nicole Schmitz is the owner of Newport Peach in Costa Mesa, California. Her path into fitness began with home workout tapes as a teenager and continued through years working at big-box gyms and boutique studios in Chicago and Los Angeles, with a background in sales and marketing and a certification in holistic health coaching. She discovered Newport Peach as a client and later stepped into ownership to keep its unique community going. Today, she oversees operations, works closely with clients, and offers holistic nutrition coaching.
Nicole’s philosophy treats fitness as one part of holistic health, balancing physical movement with emotional and mental wellbeing. At Newport Peach, the mission is not weight loss or transformation, but helping women feel welcomed, connected, and confident, and reminding them that the best workout is one they genuinely enjoy.
Her values include body positivity, community, personal connection, and holistic wellness. At Newport Peach, those values show up in small classes, instructors who began as clients, personal check-ins, a colorful 90s-inspired space, and a culture where women of every age and stage are met exactly where they are.
About This Spotlight
Fitness Living Magazine™ selected this Spotlight for Nicole Schmitz’s client-to-owner leadership story, a body-positive standard that leaves weight-loss talk out of the room, a teaching team drawn entirely from the studio’s own clients, the signature Peach Step Method, and a small-class model Nicole compares to personal training more than a crowded group session.
Recognized by Fitness Living Magazine™ for body-positive coaching, intentionally small classes, a teaching team drawn from the studio’s own clients, and a culture built around enjoyment and belonging in Costa Mesa.
This profile belongs to Fitness Living Magazine™’s Local Fitness Leadership Series, which documents independent studio owners and coaches through recorded interviews, reviewed drafts, and material supplied by the businesses themselves.
Nicole Schmitz’s recorded September 15, 2026 interview with Fitness Living Magazine™ is the foundation of this Spotlight. The draft she reviewed during the technical sign-off process, a client note she supplied for editorial context, studio photography and branding provided for publication, and the official Newport Peach website and app supported class names, contact options, and first-visit details.
This feature is editorial content and is not medical advice. Class descriptions, client comments, and experiences reflect Nicole Schmitz’s account, supplied client material, and current public business information; they do not establish guaranteed results. Individual experiences vary, and readers should consult appropriate healthcare professionals before beginning or changing an exercise program, especially if they are pregnant, postpartum, or managing pain, injury, or a medical condition.
